Glycerol monooleate (GMO) is a common engine oil lubricant additive used to reduce friction and wear in engines. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the properties of GMO in bulk and under confined conditions with shear using molecular dynamics simulations. The self-assembly of GMO into reverse micelles (RMs) in toluene and n-heptane solvents is studied at a range of concentrations and subsequently with several common engine impurities over simulation timescales of 5-30 ns. The dimensional properties of the RMs are found to correspond well with experimentally studied SANS/SAXS measurements. Secondly, the properties of GMO confined between mica surfaces are studied under quiescent and shear conditions. Under shear, the performance of GMO as a friction modifier is studied and the structural and frictional properties are examined. In particular, the mass density and velocity profiles of the fluid are used to gain insights into the structure and dynamics of the confined GMO fluid films, under a variety of shear rates and surface separation. The data is found to fit excellently to the universal friction curve. Following this the effect of hydrolysing the GMO to oleic acid is studied in bulk and under shear, it is found that increasing oleic acid concentration typically reduces the propensity to self-assemble and under confinement increases the friction coefficient. And finally, a study on a range of other similar surfactants is conducted to investigate the effect of unsaturation, head group and chain length on the calculated friction coefficient and the structure of the surfactant films.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:700123 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Bradley-Shaw, Joshua Louis |
| Contributors | Camp, Philip ; Morrison, Carole |
| Publisher | University of Edinburgh |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://hdl.handle.net/1842/18750 |
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